BUILT TO SPILL: KEEP IT LIKE A SECRET (1999)
1) The Plan; 2) Center Of The
Universe; 3) Carry The Zero; 4) Sidewalk; 5) Bad Light; 6) Time Trap; 7) Else;
8) You Were Right; 9) Temporarily Blind; 10) Broken Chairs.
Okay, so this time the songs are shorter. But
not that shorter — instead of eight,
there's ten, and shortening them does not necessarily mean that they become
less complex in structure or more immediately accessible. It does seem that the
record is not so hotly bent on making a sweeping musical statement as its
predecessor — rather, this time around it is again just a collection of
pop-rock songs on various topics, all characterized by Doug Martsch's
guitar-and-vocal trademarks but without letting us know that Built To Spill
intend to conquer the world in the next 7 hours.
But ambition or no, once again I have to say
that Martsch is an efficient generator of ideas in harsh need of a second
partner to bring them up to speed. Case in point: the best song on the album
is arguably ʽElseʼ, an allegro pop-rocker with romantic vocals, psychedelic
guitars, and convoluted lyrics that seem to concern the protagonist's
inability to cope with his love urges, but might as well be about physical
illness — anyway, its spiralling lead guitar line and arching vocal modulations
bear the stamp of beauty, nay, gorgeousness
even, but neither of the two is given a strong enough presence to stand out.
The vocals are buried, the lead line is never louder than the unremarkable
rhythm pattern, and although the music actually develops along the way (there's
a lengthy coda where Martsch tries out several guitar tricks and effects), it
does not really feel as if it
developed — everything is so smooth. Bluntly speaking, the guy came up with
potentially sharp hooks, and then spent his time in the studio dulling them up.
Other than this little detail (namely, that all
the songs here kinda suck), all the songs on this album are excellent. Smart
guitar melodies, smart lyrics, smartly engineered seams between the different
parts — and when I say «smart», I don't just mean «specializing in innovative,
but emotionally meaningless chord changes»: I mean really evocative,
emotionally charged melodies that transfer a whole variety of vibes, most of
them positive and uplifting, even if the lyrics usually deal with various
personal problems. Only the lengthy album closer ʽBroken Chairsʼ, slowing down
to a relative crawl and awash in agonizingly distorted solos, breaks this
sequence with the obvious intention of depressing you in the end — not entirely
successful, because as Doug goes over the top about piling one psycho-bluesy
solo on top of another during the final jam, the whole thing becomes «trippy»
rather than «depressing», and you will probably emerge from the experience
with your eyes rolled back and your tongue hanging out, rather than with the
bitter knowledge that there is no hope whatsoever for the human race. But did
you know, really, that crows are "mirrors of apprehension in the fallen
sun"? I didn't. The lyrics sure as hell don't add much to that depressing
effect.
Additional highlights — ʽCenter Of The
Universeʼ, whose opening riff creates a musical vortex of sorts (yes, Martsch
is really good at «bends and wobbles», as Robert Fripp would call them);
ʽTemporarily Blindʼ, whose cobweb of ringing, sighing, sirening, and grinning
guitars will confuse your ears before suddenly merging into one single power
riff, then exploding once again into a miriad of kaleidoscopic sounds; and the
song that most people talk about when they mention this record, because it is
so much easier to talk about words than notes — ʽYou Were Rightʼ, in which
Martsch collects as many classic rock negative clichés as possible ("all
we are is dust in the wind", "we're all just bricks in the
wall", "it's a hard rain's gonna fall", "this is the
end") and acknowledges their truthfulness over a tired, stuttering tempo,
ending the song by repeatedly asking the question "do you ever think about
it?". Stupid rocker, if we never thought about it, would we even be coming
up with all these trite phrases in the first place?
Anyway, here comes another thumbs up to another album that
commands unambiguous respect, but hardly ever gives me any emotional thrills. I
have no idea what it would take to make these songs really work — additional instruments beside guitars? a different
vocalist? a better mix? a less impressionistic verbal style? atmospheric
voiceovers from a resurrected Vincent Price? whatever. I'd still take the
simple, «trivial», but so highly efficient guitar sound of Nirvana over this by
default — however, whenever you are in the mood for something that's very
Nineties, very pop-rock, very far removed from the avantgarde spirit, but also somehow
quite challenging and inventive, well... just Keep It Like A Secret, and we'll be able to carry the Built To
Spill legacy, untarnished and unspoiled by excessive popularity, through the coming
years.
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